For imitating the sexually provocative dance popularized by American celebrity Miley Cyrus, three yOUNG Russian women were given jail sentences ranging from 10 to 15 days.

The Novorossiysk judge sentenced a 19-year-old woman to 15 days in prison and two more females in their 20s to 10 days in jail for twerking beside a World War II memorial. The charge of hooliganism was filed against five women who shot a video twerking beside the memorial found on the Black Sea.

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However, two were spared from being jailed because of ill health, reports The Star. Another woman escaped charges because she is a minor, but prosecutors said they would instead charge her parents. The charge would be "failure to encourage the physical, intellectual, physiological, spiritual and moral development of a child."

In justifying the short jail terms, prosecutors said, "This incident of disrespect for the memory of war history is unacceptable and any attempts to desecrate sites of military glory will be stopped immediately," quotes BBC.

In 2012, two members of Pussy Riot, a female punk band, were jailed for two years also on hooliganism charges for holding a protest in front of the main cathedral in Moscow.

Two weeks ago, authorities started an investigation of a dance institution in Orenburg City. They discovered a YouTube video, titled Winnie the Pooh and the Bees, of Russian female students attired as bees and twerking. The video sparked outrage in conservative Russia.

The students involved in the dance could face sanctions ranging from community service to three years in jail for negligence or debauched action.

The incident affected not only the dance school which was temporarily shuttered, while all dance schools in the region have been ordered inspected.

When Miley Cyrus posted a video on Facebook in March 2013 of herself twerking while wearing a unicorn suit, many viewers too were scandalized by the sexually provocative dance, but young fans liked it and imitated the former wholesome Disney star. The video garnered more than 4 million hits in YouTube.

Despite the dislike by conservatives of the dance, no one has been arrested or charged in the U.S. and other western countries for twerking or performing other sexually provocative dances.

TagsRussia twerking, twerking, jail, Miley Cyrus, Russia